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Topic: Hopes and speculation for gen 5 (Read 2148 times)

As rumors of gen 5 generate with the presence of leaks, and the inevitable conclusion of FiM draws near, I-like many, wonder what lies ahead for the future of this pastel pony franchise. With 36 years of history behind it, I am not worried in the least that it will continue on, bringing joy and smiles to the next generation. But what potential does the future generation hold? Well, perhaps we may have been given a foregleam through the season finale of MLP: FiM’s season 7, where ponies of the present are able to summon the pony pillars of harmony from the past, to live in their era. Now, there is a concern that the farther we advance into new generations, the past generations and its history could be lost and forgotten. But by bringing the past into the present, there is less chance of this happening.

The lyrics of an anime called Digimon Frontier explain this quite well:

“we look to the pastAs we head towards the futureTo reclaim the Digital world

With faith in ourselvesAnd trust in each otherWe live by the lessons we learned”

Furthermore, the theme of this show is kids in the present use the power of the world’s guardians of the past to help save the world in the present, in a similar vein to FiM with its elements of harmony, and then literally dragging the guardians back from the past to live their lives in the modern day. This gives me hope that generation 5, whenever it comes, will incorporate the same “Past meets present” concept, but in a new way. (We've gotten names pulled from past pony genedations that were incorporated in the present, but their characters and personalities were completely reimagined) Digimon’s characters use devices that hold the DNA data of the pillars of the past, and can temporarily become the protectors of the past, using their appearance and powers. While that doesn’t quite seem fitting for My Little Pony, something similar can be done for generation 5.

With a rich history to draw on, and many branches on the MLP franchise’s tree, I would certainly like to see the more obscure gens and spinoffs get due attention with gen5.

For instance, while generation 1 is moderately known and somewhat respected by those fans in gen4, very few (if any) know of its roots that lie in a Japanese branch of MLP done by toy company Takara (now Takara Tomy) which produced an adorable, region exclusive, version of ponies known as “Mai Ritoruu Ponii” (My Stylish Pony), with a cast of 4 characters- Pinky and Milky being the main 2, and their friends, Lily and Popo coming into the picture later. With these g1 characters being region exlusive, having a very limited distribution, and never even having their own animated tv series, I think that giving them a fair shot and incoporating them in fun ways with the characters in g5 could benefit both the fans of these old and obscure ponies, but also the next generation.

Similarly, the ponies of generation 2, which was known as “Friendship Gardens”, could benefit from the same treatment, and be incorporated into generation 5. Though starting off as a toyline in the U.S., their molds were not taken too well, production was stopped, (though I think they are the most realistic in appearance to real horses, and are really cute), and they were given a warmer welcome in Europe for a longer period of time. As a result, these ponies also left without ever having their own animated series, but only a computer game. Generation 5 could, once again, incorporate the ponies of this past gen in creative ways, as Digimon Frontier and the season 7 finale of MLP gen4 has done.

I have talked about this at length in the leaks thread already, so I'll sum up what I hope/wish for (not necessarily think it'll happen):

-New characters-More pony species (canon flutterponies or seaponies would be nice)-Pony design should make use of longer snouts again, anything other than the humanoid front view the cartoon G4s have right now-No sickly thin or steroid ponies-Less gendering of colors, hairstyles or bodytypes. I would actually love it if they went G2 and made the male ponies look like the females. Never understood why G4 stallions are often regular horse colors with choppy manes. They're MLP, they should be pretty/pastelly-Less pop culture shout-outs that ultimately date the show. No pony stand-ins for real life people or popular characters on other shows.-Better toy tie-ins. I want to see most of the show characters on shelves and not just a core cast.

Without having a set of ponies getting way more releases than the others. No exclusively releasing a limited amount of ponies for an extended amount of time like the Core 7, or an overwhelmingly large amount of releases for some ponies over others like the Mane 6. If it must have "core" ponies, have it like earlier G3 where characters are still plentiful and give the "core" ponies a couple more releases, like what earlier G3 did with Pinkie Pie, Sunny Daze, Wysteria, etc.

2 - More Poses!

G1 - G3 (pre-Core 7) had a wide variety of poses (G1 and G3 especially), and I would like to see that return. G4.5 has been a step above G4 in the pose department, but the basic standing pose is still more common than everything else, and I'd like to see that issue go away entirely.

3 - Good balance between Earth, Unicorns, and Pegasi

G1 and G4 are pretty good with having a relatively even amount of the main pony types. G2 was very heavily leaning toward Earth ponies with very few Unicorns and no Pegasi (clip-on wings don't count, dang it!). G3 was a tad better, but was still primarily Earth ponies, with not as many Unicorns or Pegasi (Unicorns were especially lacking here). I want to see a nice balance like G1 and G4 have with the three main species.

Beyond that, I also want to see a wider variety of other non-main pony species like we see in G1. Stuff like Flutter Ponies, Wingers, Sea Ponies etc.

4 - Bigger ponies!

G4s are too small, I'd like ponies the size of G1s or G3s again!

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I don't really have too much of a preference when it comes to the designs of the ponies themselves. I love the designs of all the generations so far, G3.5 included, so I'd probably be content with whatever appearance they ultimately decide on. What I care most about is pony and pose variety above all else.

I have talked about this at length in the leaks thread already, so I'll sum up what I hope/wish for (not necessarily think it'll happen):

-New characters-More pony species (canon flutterponies or seaponies would be nice)-Pony design should make use of longer snouts again, anything other than the humanoid front view the cartoon G4s have right now-No sickly thin or steroid ponies-Less gendering of colors, hairstyles or bodytypes. I would actually love it if they went G2 and made the male ponies look like the females. Never understood why G4 stallions are often regular horse colors with choppy manes. They're MLP, they should be pretty/pastelly-Less pop culture shout-outs that ultimately date the show. No pony stand-ins for real life people or popular characters on other shows.-Better toy tie-ins. I want to see most of the show characters on shelves and not just a core cast.

This is definitely my list. I'd also add some more love for G1 characters.

I'd also get away from the pony control everything approach Friendship is Magic had. It was a nice bit of whimsy in the first season, but it lost its novelty rather quickly. I'd also like to see something other than Greek mythology form the backbone of the world.

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I spent five years learning Atmospheric Science on the university level. I come out of it with the ultimate knowledge of the universe. √10 * π ≈ 10.

Variety in the toysOne reason I'm tired of G4 is how similar all the toys are. Not only do we see so many repeats of the same characters, each release of the toys is almost indistinguishable from the others. The gimmicks aren't interesting, let alone the characters. I'm hoping G5 will be more like G1 or G3 where we got so many unique ponies and gimmicks without all them being so similar.

Better quality toysI know I'm not the only one who hates how cheaply ponies these days are made, especially when it comes to the hair. I want larger ponies with softer hair that looks nice straight out of the packaging. I don't care if I'd have to pay more for better ponies. I'm just tired of cheap ponies.

A new cast of charactersThe Mane Six have run their course. I feel like there's no way to continue working with these characters. They've learned all they can, yet Hasbro is still milking them. I want to see some fresh new faces in G5, not updated versions of the current ponies.

I have talked about this at length in the leaks thread already, so I'll sum up what I hope/wish for (not necessarily think it'll happen):

-New characters-More pony species (canon flutterponies or seaponies would be nice)-Pony design should make use of longer snouts again, anything other than the humanoid front view the cartoon G4s have right now-No sickly thin or steroid ponies-Less gendering of colors, hairstyles or bodytypes. I would actually love it if they went G2 and made the male ponies look like the females. Never understood why G4 stallions are often regular horse colors with choppy manes. They're MLP, they should be pretty/pastelly-Less pop culture shout-outs that ultimately date the show. No pony stand-ins for real life people or popular characters on other shows.-Better toy tie-ins. I want to see most of the show characters on shelves and not just a core cast.

This plus bigger toys, more poses, and animals that actually look like horses.

(Ugh, my computer decided to post before I'd finished writing - why?!)My hopes for G5 have pretty much already been covered:- Decent quality toys- Variety of characters- Enough with the pop culture wink-and-nudge (holding my hands up, I have a snobby attitude about that in general)- Variety of colours - nothing wrong with pink and purple, but it'd be nice to see a wider range of colour combinations- Gimmicks. Even if it's just recurring stuff like ponies with butterfly wings, I love a gimmicky pony!